Homes’ styles change just like fashion changes. Keeping your home in the latest style can be as easy as making a few simple upgrades. Staying abreast of the latest style trends for your home will make your home a great place to be.
A stylish home is inviting and a reflection of your style. Ramping up your home’s style makes it a more welcome place to be and enhances your lifestyle.
It Can Be Affordable
We are all working on a budget. Upgrading your space to the latest fashionable home trends does not have to cost a fortune. There are upgrades you can do on any budget. Of course, how much budget you can put into the project will determine what upgrades you can make.
Upgrading your home is not only an aesthetic benefit, but it helps to renew how you feel about your home. Making your space more functional, more comfortable, and, of course, more stylish is a worthwhile investment.
Get your budget together, and let’s take a look at seven easy upgrades to make your home a more stylish place to live.
Let’s Go Outside
If your home is looking a-okay on the inside, don’t be fooled into thinking that there are not upgrades that you can be making. One of the most neglected spaces by homeowners is their outdoor areas.
Our first upgrade suggestion is inexpensive (although it does require some sweat equity) is your landscape. Just like indoor style trends for your home, outdoor style trends for your home change as well.
For example, today, conservation and environmental friendliness is driving the landscaping trends. Everything from the plants you pick to the pavers you use for your walkway is being determined by environmentally friendly materials.
The benefits of making some changes to your landscaping are, of course, the new, more impressive aesthetic of having some great outdoor spaces, and the less obvious return on investment that is possible. According to the experts, you can see as much as a 12% return on the value of your home simply by upgrading your landscaping.
Arborists can be great support resources for upgrading your landscaping using trees. Today, planting trees is very trendy. You are no longer limited to planting fruit-bearing trees in the backyard. Planting fruit trees right in the front yard is a very trendy home style.
Here are some quick ways you can upgrade your landscaping:
Make your landscaping wildlife-friendly. A bird feeder here, a birdbath there, and wildlife-friendly plants can turn your landscape into a wildlife-friendly habitat.
Go native. Native plants are a big craze in landscaping right now. Forget trying to grow plants that are not native to your region. They require far more care than native species and compete with the native plants to survive.
Natural is best. Today, you would be hard-pressed to find anything artificial in the most stylish landscapes. Use natural materials to stay on-trend.
Of course, landscaping is not the only thing you can upgrade outside. What are your exterior doors saying about your home? Today’s exterior doors are more energy-efficient than ever. Are your doors giving visitors a glimpse of what to expect inside your home or are they scaring people away? Easy affordable upgrade number two is to do something about your doors.
Upgrades Three and Four Are Still Outside
Remember, we said that the outside of homes is often neglected? Well, it is true. If your garage doors look a bit shabby chic, then they are outdated and you should consider the garage door installation cost to upgrade.
According to the experts, your garage doors, and your entrance door can really dictate your curb appeal. Old, outdated garage doors are not only an eyesore that is negatively affecting your curb appeal game, but they are energy vampires as well.
Replacing your old garage doors with new ones not only upgrades your home’s aesthetics but it can help you save on energy costs. Of course, energy savings are always stylish.
If garage doors are the number three upgrade, what could number four be? Number four is going to be a bit more expensive but it comes with a great return on your investment. Replacing your outdated siding.
Metal siding is quickly becoming a favorite. It delivers durability, is available in a range of colors, and can last a lifetime. This type of siding is great for delivering that industrial look that is popular. It is great for modern-styled homes, contemporary homes, and minimalist-style homes. Upgrading your siding adds instant value to your home. If you can fit it into your budget, it is a great way to upgrade the style of the exterior of your home.
Many home siding companies offer easy finance terms to make new siding more affordable. Check with local siding companies to find the perfect terms.
Let’s Get To the Top Of The Problem
The number five upgrade to stylize your home starts at the top, literally. You can do all the other things on this list, but the fact is, if your roof has been neglected, you are missing a key ingredient of living in a stylish home.
Your roof is the number one protector of your property. If you need roofing services, you should get them ASAP. Upgrading your roof is not just a suggestion, it is a necessary part of the process.
If you think you cannot afford a new roof, think again. A roofer can provide you with options for roof repair, roof replacement, and roof rehabilitation. Your local roofing company may offer re-roofing options that will give you a brand new roof to really stylize and protect your home at a great savings.
There is no sense in doing all the upgrade work if your roof fails. There are plenty of eco-friendly building materials that are now available for your roofing needs. These newer materials can transform your home into that environmentally friendly haven that is a popular style option.
Get your roof fixed or upgrade your roof, and your house will be in tip-top style. Contact a local roofing company to learn more about your style options and the services that are available.
Let’s Move Indoors for Upgrade Six and Seven
What are two of the most important rooms in the house? According to real estate experts, it is the kitchen and the bath. They are the most frequently used rooms and are usually very central to everyone’s lifestyle.
Of course, you are thinking, “will I have to gut my kitchen and bath to upgrade the style of my home?”. You could, but this is a list of easy upgrades. We will not venture there. However, the one thing you need to do before you start any upgrades is to make sure these two rooms are fully functional. It is not very stylish to have broken appliances. Appliance repair is a must before you move on to upgrade six or seven. While you are at it make sure that you do not need any plumbing repairs.
We are going to break upgrade number six and upgrade number seven into little slices of potential upgrades for either the bathroom or the kitchen, starting with the kitchen. Here are some upgrades that you can do in the kitchen that will have a big impact on a small budget:
Change your kitchen lighting. Lighting plays a major role in your home’s style. Upgraded lighting can make the entire room feel modern.
Upgrade the paint. Painting plays a critical role in making space feel more modern. Today’s popular kitchen colors include stark white and light gray.
Change the hardware. If you do not have enough in the budget to rip those cabinets out and start over a coat of paint and some new hardware can go a long way in upgrading the style.
Electricians can easily change your “ceiling lights” to dazzling pendant lights for a lot less than you think. Simple upgrades in the kitchen can really help space evolve into a stylish gathering place.
Now let’s move on to the bathroom. Bathrooms come with very specific challenges. They are often very small spaces that lack enough storage space. You wind up with a cluttered area that does not look very stylish. Some of the easy upgrades that you can make for your bathroom to improve the style include:
Using vertical space for storage. Minimalist looks are in. That means cleaning up your stuff and tucking it away. You may not have a lot of floor space to place cabinetry, but you likely have a lot of empty wall space. Shelving and organizers can go a long way in stylizing your bathroom.
Upgrade the paint and your shower curtain. The right paint that makes a difference in your kitchen can do the same thing for your bathroom. Paint, and that adding great accessories like a new shower curtain and bath mat is inexpensive and has a big impact on your bathroom’s style.
Lighting. Call the same electrician to switch out your outdated lighting and add some interest in some new lighting.
Big changes are nice if you can afford them, but little changes can make a big difference sometimes as well. If you can afford to do a full-on revamp in your kitchen and bath, then go for it, but if you cannot, make those little changes to bring in some style to your home.
A little effort can go a long way when you are upgrading your kitchen and your bathroom. They are two of the most important rooms in your home and they are two of the easiest rooms to create a welcoming retreat.
Bonus Tips
The recycle, reuse, repurpose trend has clearly spilled over into home design and style trends. Instead of discarding unwanted décor, get creative and consider how you can repurpose it in your home.
Today’s home style is less about clutter and cozy and more about minimalist and neat. Using storage baskets to keep all your stuff centrally located and any space tidy is a great way to add some style and stay on-trend.
Here are some tips for stylizing your home on the cheap:
Declutter. The clutter is not stylish. Getting rid of the clutter comes with two benefits. First, you will have an easier time finding your stuff. Second, you never know what you might find. Clear the clutter and you may find treasures that you can repurpose for other uses.
Neutral and natural. Neutral colors and natural materials are a big home-style trend right now. Think about bringing some of the outside indoors. Large potted plants can add some instant style upgrade on the cheap.
DIY and Handmade. Thanks to websites like Etsy, there is a huge home trend for DIY and handmade items. Get in on the trend by either buying from a handmade source, or joining the movement by learning how to handmake things for your home.
How we live and how we feel about our home is so important to our personal happiness. Evolving your space to support your personal style will make your home more comfortable for you to live in. While it is important to keep your home stylish, that does not mean that what is trendy right now is perfect for you. It is perfectly okay to develop your own home style and follow your own self-made trends.
Home should be where you are surrounded by the things that make you comfortable. Upgrading your space to reflect who you are and how you want to live should be the guiding force in any upgrade plans.
Keep in mind that you do not have to do it all the upgrades at once. You can do one project a month, and before you know it you will have the most stylish house on the block.